Leaders are set to discuss topics including international cooperation on production capacity, technological innovation, the coordination of development strategies, free trade talks and regional economic integration

The ice-thawing meeting to be held over the weekend among leaders of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea will provide new incentives for regional cooperation and promote the stability of all of Asia and even the Asia-Pacific region, experts said.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye are set to meet on Sunday, after a three-year hiatus in such talks due to disputes over wartime history and territorial issues. It will be the first time for Li to officially visit South Korea as Chinese premier.

At the summit, the leaders are set to discuss topics including international cooperation on production capacity, technological innovation, the coordination of development strategies, free trade talks and regional economic integration.

Piao Jianyi, a researcher of Korean Peninsula studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the summit will be the most important diplomatic event for China regarding Northeastern Asia relations.

“Considering the economic clout of the three countries in Asia, decisions made at the summit by the three leaders will influence the future of Asia and even Asia-Pacific at large,â�� he said.

“The leaders will exchange views on trilateral relations and regional issues, such as pushing for peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula,â� he said. “Although the restart of the summit does not necessarily mean that the three countries have overcome their problems, it shows an intention to handle the differences.”

Shigeo Iwatani, a Japanese diplomat and former secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, said the summit will be a big push for the trilateral relations.

“It could take a new major initiative to bring the level of cooperation one step forward,” he said.

China, Japan and South Korea launched the trilateral organisation in September 2011, a milestone in the process of building friendship and trust among the three countries.

â��Although there are a lot of difficulties in the Japan-China relationships, there are also a lot of positive, cooperative activities going on and room for cooperation in the future,” Iwatani said. “People should pay more attention to this positive side of the relationship.��

Frequent meetings can help build personal relationships between Chinese and Japanese leaders. By discussing pending issues based on such mutual personal trust, the two countries can avoid worsening of the relationship in the future and might find solutions to various issues, he added.

Harunobu Kato, executive commentator of Japan’s broadcasting corporation NHK, said he hoped that more cooperation among the three countries will play a bigger role in peace and stability in East Asia.

“I hope that the meeting will help the three leaders to understand each other more and find more approaches to improve relations,” Kato said, adding that if the three countries reached a free-trade agreement, it would bring great benefits for all.

He also said that if Li and Abe meet, this would help them have more ideas for developing a win-win relationship. When the two countries cooperate, both win, and when they confront, both lose, he added.

China is the largest trading partner of Japan and South Korea, while Japan is China’s second-largest single-country trading partner and South Korea its third, with their trading volume last year totaling $307.5 billion and $235.4 billion, respectively, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.

The three countries, whose combined GDP accounts for 20 percent of that of the whole world, constitute one of the three largest economic blocs, along with the European Union and North America. — Shan Yi contributed to this story.

The launch of the new policy needs to be in accordance with regional population and family planning laws, and the birth of a second child before such regulations are passed into law will be deemed illegal.

Jiang Weiping, director of the China Population and Development Research Center, said the necessary measures will be determined by people’s congresses or their standing committees in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

The people’s congress at provincial level or its standing committee will revise local regulations or make new ones, with the support and guidance of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Jiang said.

���The timeline for the operation of the new ‘two-child policy’ in different regions will determine when the second newborn baby will be able to have a legal identity,” Jiang said.

Last year, several regions in China took the lead in introducing a second-child policy. However, parents in 17 provinces and autonomous regions who had a second child before the new local regulations were finalised still faced financial penalties.

After China relaxes its family planning policy, parents who choose to have one child or opt for a second child will no longer get government awards such as a monthly bonus, which varies in different regions.

In Beijing, parents with a single child get 10 yuan ($1.57) monthly up to the child’s 18th birthday. The government will additionally compensate older couples for whom the new two-child ruling is already too late. It will give no less than 1,000 yuan ($157) as a bonus when the wife reaches 55 years of age and the husband is 60.

“The number of new births will definitely increase in the coming years and we estimate that the peak will be over 20 million newborn babies,” said Wang Pei’an, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

At present, about 60 per cent of China’s child-bearing women are over 35 years old, which means an increase of ‘elderly’ mothers will be witnessed in China in the next few years, Wang said in a news release on Friday.

���It’s safe to say that the two-child policy won’t bring huge pressure on food security and basic public services, such as health, education and employment,” Wang said. He estimated that another 30 million working people aged between 15 and 59 will be added by 2050. “It will benefit economic growth in the long term,” Wang added.

Following a four-day meeting of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in Beijing this week, the central government announced that China will allow two children for every couple. For the present, only certain couples are eligible to have two children, such as those in which both partners are only children.

The central government eased the family planning policy in late 2013, allowing couples to have a second child if one spouse was an only child. As of June, only 1.5 million of the 11 million eligible couples had applied for second child.

Timeline: (source: National Health and Family Planning Commission and Xinhua News Agency)

1953: Chinese leaders suggest that the population should be controlled and approve a law on contraception and abortion, but the plan is stranded by political upheaval and the 1959-61 famine.

1970: Chinese population exceeds 800 million.

1ᚏ: China adopts the slogan “Late, Long and Few� and encourages couples to have one child and urges them to have no more than two.

1980: The Communist Party of China says every couple should have only one child. A new marriage law says couples are obliged to practice family planning, placing a limit of one child for each family.

1984: China adjusts the policy, allowing a second child for some families in rural areas and for couples who both are an only child, and in some other specified circumstances.

2001: China decrees new laws to better manage the administration of the policy, including penalties for unapproved births. The laws allow local government to impose fines for additional children.

2013: China adds an exemption allowing two children for families in which one parent, rather than both, is an only child.

Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently made two separate communications to the Indian government to fulfil its commitment made at the political level to ease and increase the supplies of fuel and other essential commodities to Nepal.

In response to a press briefing by Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, on Friday in New Delhi, a senior Foreign Ministry official said that Nepal made such request recently with the Indian side as per the commitment made by the Indian political leadership during the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa.

The Nepali side, in its correspondence with India, gave the details of the status of fuel and essential commodities passed through various customs points and urged the Indian side to increase them as it has taken a toll on Nepalâ��s economy and livelihood.

During his visit to India early this month, Thapa held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other senior officials, requesting them to ease the supplies of fuel and other essential commodities. In his briefing, Swarup said, “I reiterated there is no blockade by India. Obstructions are on the Nepali side by a section of their own population. The largest border crossing, Raxaul-Birgunj, which accounts for 70 percent of our trade, continues to remain closed from their side.”

But officials in Nepal said in clear terms that the blockage is from the Indian side and that Nepal is ready to provide all kind of security to Nepal-bound cargoes and freights. Tara Pokhrel, spokesperson at the ministry, said the Nepalis have been suffering from the shortage of fuel and other essentials.

He added that the Foreign Ministry was taking diplomatic initiatives to improve the conditions.

Swarup also commented on the recent memorandum of understanding between Nepal and China. “We have seen reports that Nepal has signed an agreement with China,” he said, adding that Nepal’s trade with India is multi-faceted, diverse and deep-rooted.

Nearly two thirds of Nepal’s international trade is with India and a bulk of the third country trade passes through India, he said. Nearly half of the foreign investments in Nepal is from India.

The EAM spokesperson added that several hundred cargo trucks are still passing daily through the crossings that are open. “The IOC [Indian Oil Corporation] is able to deliver only 30 percent of the allocation [to Nepal] on average. We facilitated airlifting of aviation turbine fuel earlier. And we are ready to facilitate similar operations in future.” He said that the Indian side was also facilitating the rerouting of LPG bullets. He indicated that India was ready to engage with the new government in Nepal.

“As far as [our] engagement with the new government is concerned, you are aware that [foreign minister] Kamal Thapa came within a week of assuming office. We had good discussions. He acknowledged that there is a political problem in Nepal which needs a political solution,�� he said, urging the political parties in Nepal to accommodate the disgruntled people.

SC seeks clarification on govt silence

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to furnish a written explanation as to why it did not raise the issue of India’s unofficial blockade on Nepal in the international arena.

The single bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha issued the fiat on Friday in response to a writ petition filed by the Forum for Protection of Consumer’s Rights Nepal. The apex court has also ordered the government to present the details of the efforts that are being made to end the blockade.

Arguing that the obstruction on supply of emergency essentials such as petroleum products and medicines should not be blocked even during wartime, the plaintiff has termed the blockade a crime against humanity, and demanded the court to order the government to file an application at the United Nations, seeking the latter’s intervention to end the blockade, and lodge a separate complaint at the Indian Supreme Court in accordance with the provision in the Indian constitution.

A member nation of the World Trade Organisation, Nepal has the right to import goods from third countries. As a landlocked nation, Nepal also enjoys the right to access to sea for import of goods without any obstruction. Legally, any national can file complaints at the United Nations, if any provisions pertaining to the landlocked country and the international maritime laws are violated.

A Malaysian couple whom the prosecution said starved, abused, neglected and denied their Cambodian maid medical care which eventually led to her death were sentenced to death by the Court of Appeal Friday.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lailawati Ali had argued that the trial judge was wrong to reduce the charge from murder to manslaughter against the couple.

Hardware store owner Soh Chew Tong, 46, and his wife Chin Chui Ling, 43, were found guilty of manslaughter by the Penang High Court judge Justice Zamani Abdul Rahim in May 2013 and sentenced to 24 years in jail each.

The maid, Mey Sichan, 24, only weighed 26.1kg when she was rescued after seven months working at their house.

The appellate court also dismissed the couple’s appeal over their conviction for manslaughter.

Upon hearing the verdict, Chin, who appeared taken aback, broke down while hugging her husband in the dock.

She wept uncontrollably until she slowly sat down while her husband stood expressionless. Their family members also rushed to console them.

The couple’s counsel K.Kumaraendran then tapped Soh’s shoulder telling him not to worry as they would appeal against the decision.

President Ma Ying-jeou presided over the 13th 2015 International Austronesian Conference (IAC) Thursday, sharing his enthusiasm at seeing the meeting raising awareness of international aboriginal communities in the two-day event.

Greeting representatives from at least 30 countries in Taiwan’s 15 existing Formosan languages, Ma stated that the conference would cover discourses and analyses of territorial governance and cultural heritage, among other topics, which are all pressing issues, both in domestic and international indigenous communities.

“I hope the two-day conference will provide recognition and assistance for passing aboriginal bills still undergoing examination before the Cabinet and the Legislative Yuan,” Ma said. He added that indigenous cultures create diversity and raise competitiveness for a nation.

Bringing up Taiwan’s free-trade agreement with New Zealand in 2013, Ma stated that the pact was the first of its kind in Taiwan’s history of trade agreements, because it covered cultural connections and media cooperation between both Taiwan’s indigenous peoples and New Zealand’s Maori.

In September, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Taiwan Indigenous TV and New Zealand’s Maori TV was also signed, Ma said. The MOU aims to strengthen ties and promotes exchanges in television.

Ma said that in February, the strength of the trade pact with New Zealand was shown by a Maori and Taiwan aboriginal collaborative performance at the Taipei International Book Exhibition.

Also speaking at the event was Mayaw Dongi , minister of the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP), who said that panel discussions at the past 12 conferences saw experts and scholars from at least 30 countries in attendance, and they resulted in over 130 dissertations on aboriginal topics and issues being published.

“In past years, we have collected and processed these dissertations to inform the development of policies beneficial to our aboriginal cause,” Mayaw said.

Mayaw also thanked the conference, saying it had contributed to progress in the development of aboriginal policies in Taiwan.

On this year’s theme, — territorial governance and cultural heritage — Mayaw stated that in recent years, society and land have undergone turbulent changes — whether man-made or natural.

“As a part of the Austronesian society – especially in the way Taiwan is considered one of the origins of the Austronesian people and even the cradle of the culture — it is impossible not to address the responsibility to preserve the Austronesian territory and its culture,” Mayaw said.

The IAC has been held since 2003, inviting researchers to discuss important issues, including regional social development, the inheritance of knowledge and education.

The agenda for the first day of the conference will mainly include keynote speeches on territorial governance, with Robert Wesley Heber, professor emeritus at the University of Regina and the First Nations University of Canada covering the country’s Metis mixed-race aboriginals Michael Lujan Bevacqua, assistant professor of Chamorro Studies at the University of Guam, will discuss the role of the Festival of Pacific Arts in Chamorro efforts to revitalise their culture.

India on Thursday reached out to Africa with a credit of $10 billion which will be in addition to the ongoing credit programme. This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at the last day of the India Africa Forum Summit.

“We will also offer a grant assistance of $600 million. This will include an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million and an India-Africa Health Fund of $10 million,�� Modi said.

“To add strength to our partnership, India will offer concessional credit of $10 billion over the next five years. This will be in addition to our ongoing credit programme,” said Modi.

The prime minister also pledged an assistance of $600 million to the continent and 50,000 scholarships for African students in India.

“We will also offer a grant assistance of $600 million. This will include an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million and an India-Africa Health Fund of $10 million,” Modi said.

â��It will also include 50,000 scholarships in India over the next five years. And, it will support the expansion of the Pan Africa E-Network and institutions of skilling, training and learning across Africa,� he added.

Modi pushed for stronger ties to counter the growing menace of terrorism. “We wish to deepen our cooperation in maritime security and hydrography, and countering terrorism and extremism; and, why we must have a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism,” he said.

“We will also provide support for Africa Union’s peacekeeping efforts. And, we will train African peacekeepers here and in Africa. We must also have a stronger voice in decisions on UN Peacekeeping Missions,” he added.

In an attempt to helping Africa in developing its agriculture sector, Modi said, “Africa has 60 per cent of the world’s arable land reserves and just 10 per cent of the global output. India will help to develop Africa’s agriculture sector.”

Appreciating the measures taken by the African countries in the fields of healthcare, education and agriculture, the PM said: “We see strong measures that are radically improving healthcare, education and agriculture. Primary school enrolment in Africa now exceeds 90 per cent.”

He said Africa has now joined the global mainstream of innovation. “The mobile banking of M-Pesa, the healthcare innovation of MedAfrica, or the agriculture innovation of AgriManagr and Kilimo Salama, are using mobile and digital technology to transform lives in Africa,” Modi said.

“India has committed $7.4 billion in concessional credit and $1.2 billion in grant since the first India-Africa Summit in 2008,” he added.